Metro Cone Forever
Metro Cone Forever is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Gingo Animation for 20th Century Fox. The fifteenth feature film from Gingo Animation, it is the fourth and final installment in the Metro Cone franchise and is the sequel to the 2011 film Metro Cone 3: The Mystery to New York. Seann William Scott, Kristen Schaal, John Goodman, Mila Kunis, Zooey Deschanel, Taraji P. Henson, Eric Idle, and Geo G. reprise their previous roles. New cast members include Bill Hader, Jason Sudekikis, Josh Gad, Kate McKinnon, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, and T. J. Miller. The film was released on September 4, 2015 in Real D 3D and IMAX. Metro Cone Forever received generally positive reviews from critics, with many critics considering it an improvement over its predecessors as well as praising its animation, concept, and satire. The film grossed $1.201 billion worldwide against a $99 million budget, making it the highest grossing film in the franchise and making it the fifth highest-grossing film of 2015, the highest-grossing animated film of 2015, the fourth highest grossing animated film (behind Frozen, Incredibles 2, and Cool Spot) and it held the title of being both the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film and highest-grossing Gingo Animation film of all time worldwide until Cool Spot surpassed it in 2018. The film was nominated at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards and 88th Academy Awards, both for Best Animated Feature. Plot Some time after Metro Cone 3: The Mystery to New York, Koba the bonobo and his henchmen create an evil clone of Gabriel Garza, named "Dark Gabriel", and had plans to move to a far away place to build their new empire and kingdom called Kobtopia, where Koba plans to make a machine to destroy MYCUN City and fleet. Two weeks later after Koba and his henchmen built Kobtopia, Gabriel remembers something about his birth mother Christine Garza. Not long after that, Gabriel gets a letter from his mother, saying that she is in a cabin that's far away in Gabriel's Imaginary World. The MYCUNs accompany Gabriel in his quest. Later when Gabriel went inside his house, Koba appeared on TV, exclaiming that everyone will not survive in the next 48 hours, as soon as he and his henchmen destroy the MYCUN Universe. Shocked, Gabriel warns the MYCUNs that Koba is going to destroy the universe. Later that night, Gabriel enlists his wife Red Puckett, his son Carn Garza, the MYCUNs and Lavender the chimpanzee to go on an adventure to find Christine and go to Kobtopia to stop Koba and his minions, while also training to attack Koba's army. Meanwhile, Grover, a six-foot wall of blue, matted fur, gets a call from Koba who hired him to join his army at Kobtopia so they can all track down Gabriel and his gang. Grover teams up with Elmo, the Muppet bounty hunter, to join Koba's team. Later, Tigger, a former prisoner at Ashwood Country Prison, was also hired by Koba as well. After going to a mini-mart at Gacknoy and training to battle Koba and his gang, Gabriel and his MYCUNs came across the cabin where Christine is living. Christine, alongside with Gabriel's sister Desiree, sees his son and joyfully reunites with her. Gabriel introduces his mother to the MYCUN planet, but she has problems adapting to the MYCUN universe. After reuniting with Christine and Desiree, the MYCUNs finally arrive at Kobtopia, but they got captured in cages by Koba. However, Koba frees them to join Koba and his henchmen for dinner, but the MYCUNs did not accept it. Despite hearing this, Koba automatically takes them to dinner. Suddenly, the MYCUNs started to have a foodfight at dinner and they tried to escape, but Koba and his henchmen arrested them and they sent them to jail cells. At the same time, Grover and Elmo arrive at Kobtopia to unite with Koba's team. The MYCUNs slowly went out of their cells and try to escape from Kobtopia, only without getting caught by Koba's henchmen. Meanwhile, Grover and Elmo meet Koba and Dark Gabriel who forces them to kill an ape victim who was captured by Koba and his minions. However, Elmo comments to Koba that he is only a Muppet bounty hunter, but Koba instead wanted to kill the victim but Grover throws the victim out the window so he won't see him ever again. Later, Gabriel, the MYCUNs, Christine and Desiree meet The Cook, Bert and Ernie, who are all captured by Koba and his army. Bert tells Gabriel that he was a martinet who left his little brother Ernie behind for the Vietnam war and Ernie started to turn into a junkie without his brother's guidance, falling into the wrong crowd and dealing/using with the wrong people, thus making some very bad mistakes, while The Cook tells some of the MYCUNs that he was once a former famous baker who unfortunately lost his deeth due to an abusive addiction to cookies. While finding a way to get out of Kobtopia, Hiro Hamada finds a shortcut which leads him to a room with a red shirt, two pistols, a belt, shorts and combat boots, but the room is full of red laser random beams, so Hiro avoids the red laser by jumping back and forth so he won't get caught. However, after when Hiro takes off his normal outfit off and puts on the combat clothes with two guns, Hiro accidentally hits the red laser, thus getting caught by the assault rifle-wielding apes. Right before they arrive to check around the room, Hiro quickly hides to a vent. Suddenly, one of the apes checks the vent, but Hiro comes out of it and confronts them. After the apes fire a shot at Hiro and miss, Hiro ends up killing every one of the apes. After the battle, Hiro leaves out of the room now full of dead apes. Meanwhile, Misuzu Makihara and her new fiancé Adventurer discover a room full of clothes and dresses so Adventurer can dress up any outfit for Misuzu. At the same time, Gabriel, still in his jail cell with her mother, is worried that Koba is going to destroy the MYCUN universe, but Christine should want her son to live with her at the real world, so Gabriel accepted and they all hug together. Then, Gabriel gets a message from Hiro on his iPhone, indicating that he already has guns and had killed Koba's apes. In addition, Hiro told Gabriel that he had found a helper named Starhead and the MYCUNs were already there. So Gabriel and Christine went out of their prison cell and rejoins Hiro and the rest of the MYCUNs to help. Hiding from Koba's henchmen, Gabriel had found an exit, but the gates closed right before he and the rest of the group quickly rush to the exit. Meanwhile, Koba calls Gabriel on his iPhone, checking if he's still in his cell, but Gabriel told Koba that he "is" in his cell, but he is actually lying to Koba. Koba angrily rushes back to the prison cells. Gabriel and his friends reach their home a couple of seconds after Koba. He confronts Gabriel for escaping from Kobtopia and lying to him. He states he will give them one more chance and if they escape once again, he will kill all of them and destroy the MYCUN universe. Koba and his minions then took the MYCUNs back to his new empire. Gabriel sends a help letter to his friend Mikko Salovaara to help the MYCUNs escape from Kobtopia without getting caught by Koba and his team. He tells Bert, Ernie and the Cook to disguise themselves as their normal, appropriate Sesame Street forms, while Gabriel tells Hiro that he has to put the two guns away and put on his normal outfit. Gabriel and his team found a safe room so Koba and his army won't see them in there (but they were wrong sooner). Meanwhile, Mikko receives the note and arrives with his best friend Eetu to meet Gabriel for the first time. Meeting him, Mikko believes that the monster he made will scare away Koba and his minions, but instead, the monster wreaks havoc by shooting goo with his mouth and scaring Carn. However, Gabriel shields his son at the last moment and exposes the deception to Mikko, who is outraged that Gabriel has brought "childhood-ruining" version of Sesame Street characters. Gabriel confronts Mikko about how he had autism at once. Gru becomes upset with Mikko's behavior and while the group argues, Tigger had saw the MYCUNs hiding in the safe place, so he warns Koba about it. Koba, angry, quickly goes into his heavily armed mech he built to destroy all of the MYCUNs. Gabriel tries to confront Koba, but Koba claims that Gabriel's mother abandoned him, and then knocks him into the river, where he is presumed dead. However, Gabriel survives and is rescued by his mother, who takes him to the old Garza house in the real world where Gabriel was born. Guided by his mother to embrace his past, Gabriel remembers that his father Marvin took his son to live with him since Christine didn't take care of him right. Later, he reunites with Hiro and Bob the Minion, who all somehow escaped from Kobtopia. They told Gabriel that Koba isn't really going to kill the MYCUNs. Instead, he will tie them up on a rocket ship and fly up to space whereas the ship will explode, causing them to die. After that, they will finally blow up the MYCUN planet. Together, Gabriel, Hiro, Bob, Christine and Desiree return to Kobtopia at the imaginary world to save the captive MYCUNs and prevent Koba's conquest of Gabriel's world. However, they are attacked by Tigger, who mistakes Gabriel for ruining his childhood. When Tigger injures Christine and threatens to destroy Hiro, Bob and Desiree, Gabriel attacks him for hurting his mother. They begin to fight Tigger, who calls Koba, Dark Gabriel, the Gigglers, a rowdy biker-gang associated with The Bird, The Streets' most notorious mob leader, and the rest of Koba's ape army. Gabriel, Christine, Desiree, Hiro, Bob, Mikko, Eetu, Red, Carn and the rest of the MYCUNs team up to defeat Koba's minions. Suddenly, Koba grabs Carn and Gabriel rescues his son and they escape safely, leaving behind a furious Koba. A livid Tigger then attempts to kill Hiro himself with a knife. Having been won over by Gabriel's claim that Tigger is now evil, Mikko, with a help of Bert and Ernie, shrinks Tigger and tells him never to bother his friends again. Tigger then flees. Gabriel, along with his mother and new friends, return to MYCUN Village with the MYCUNs. In the mid-credits scene, Roge, Leno, Cole, Loy, and the Lars arrive at the cabin where Christine was living, but she was not there anymore. Then some of Koba's apes are about to capture them, but they run away, with Roge saying "Could this be over now?!" Voice cast Main article: List of Metro Cone characters * Seann William Scott as Metro Cone * John Goodman as Bonk Bear * Mila Kunis as Lucy Cutie * Zooey Deschanel as Wiz Lizard * Kristen Schaal as Vera Marshall * Taraji P. Henson as Mindy Cone * Eric Idle as John Cone * Jason Sudekikis as Red * Josh Gad as Chuck * Kate McKinnon as Stella * Keegan-Michael Key as Benny * William Shatner as Mr. Joy * Julia Roberts as Mrs. Joy * Chris Pratt as Nathan * Elizabeth Banks as Abby * T. J. Miller * Bill Hader as Leonard the Pig Additional voices * Phil LaMarr * Bob Bergen * Scott Menville * David Cowgill * Jess Harnell * Matthew Wood * Fred Tatasciore * Bill Farmer * June Christopher * Debi Derryberry * Carlos Alazraqui * Catherine Cavadini * Yuri Lowenthal * Lori Alan * Laraine Newman * Steve O'Connell * Alyson Stoner * Barbara Harris * Terri Douglas * Jim Ward * Tara Strong Production Development Geo G. said in October 2010 that there is likely to be a fourth installment in the Metro Cone ''franchise. After the release of ''Metro Cone 3: The Mystery to New York in 2011, John Goodman, who voiced Bonk Bear in the films, said the possibility of the fourth film: "Everyone's waiting for another one, but they haven't started working on it, but maybe one day if they did." In November 2011, Geo G., officially confirmed that a fourth Metro Cone ''film is in development with a release date scheduled for December 19, 2014. On December 12, 2011, Gingo revealed that the film, titled ''Metro Cone Forever. In January 2012, Samuel Merritt confirmed that he will not be directing the fourth film. On February 12, 2012, John Stevenston was confirmed as director of the fourth installment. Geo G. did an uncredited rewrite of the script. On March 20, 2012, Gingo announced that the film would be moved up a week to a December 12, 2014 release. On April 30, 2013, it was announced that they moved the release date from December 12, 2014 to July 17, 2015. On May 31, 2014, it was moved one more time to September 4, 2015. Casting In December 2012, Seann William Scott was hoped to reprise his role as Metro Cone in the film. In February 2013, Scott was confirmed to reprise his role as Metro Cone in the fourth film. It was also announced that John Goodman "would be happy to return" as Bonk Bear. In March 2013, it was reported that Mila Kunis, Zooey Deschanel, Kristen Schaal, Taraji P. Henson, and Eric Idle were returning to reprise their roles. In June 2013, it was reported that Jason Sudekis, Josh Gad, and more joined the cast. Music In September 2014, it was confirmed that James Dooley would return to compose the score. The soundtrack was released by Varese Sabre on August 4, 2015. "Maps" by Maroon 5 is played during the end credits of the film. Release Metro Cone Forever premiered at the Regency Village Theater on August 9, 2015 and was released in the United States on September 4, 2015 by 20th Century Fox in 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. Marketing * The first teaser trailer was released online on December 19, 2014 and was shown before Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Big Eyes, Paddington, Strange Magic, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,'' Fifty Shades of Grey'','' McFarland, USA'', Paradoria, Ico, and Cinderella. * The first official trailer was released online on March 27, 2015, and was shown before Home, Furious 7, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Jurassic World. * The second and final theatrical trailer was released online on June 19, 2015, and was shown before Inside Out, Minions, Pixels, Dick Grayson, Fantastic Four, and Shaun the Sheep Movie. Fox partnered with McDonald's to release a set of eight toys of the film's characters upon its release. Diadora released a line of clothing featuring the characters from the movie. Merchandise was also produced for the film, including Kellogg's, Funko, and others. Home media The film was released on digital and Movies Anywhere on November 27, 2018 and on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on December 8, 2015. Video game Main article: Metro Cone Forever (video game) In March 2015, Gameloft and Gingo Mobile announced the launch of a video game of the same name for smartphones and tablets on August 4, 2015. It was released on the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on the same day the film came out. Reception Box office Metro Cone Forever grossed $589.6 million in North America and $612.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.201 billion. United States and Canada In the United States and Canada, Metro Cone Forever opened on September 4, 2015, alongside A Walk in the Woods ''and ''The Transporter Refueled, and was projected to gross $95–100 million over its 4 day opening weekend, which would be the biggest opening for an animated film released in September. It made $16.6 from Thursday night previews and $106.2 million on its first day the highest-grossing opening day for Gingo. It had a $127.2 million debut in its opening weekend in its 4 day opening weekend, finishing first at the box office. In its second weekend, the film dropped 42% and ended up grossing $56.6 million. It made another $42.4 million in its third weekend, finishing 3rd. The film ended up grossing $589.6 million in its total domestic run, becoming the highest grossing film in the Metro Cone ''franchise. Internationally Outside North America the film made $85.8 million from 25 countries in its opening weekend, for a global debut of $182 million, the highest for a animated Fox released film outgrossing ''Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' worldwide opening of $176.2 million. Mexico was the largest debut with $18.4 million, followed by Australia ($16.4 million) and Russia ($13.1 million). On October 16, 2015, it opened up in 5 more territories with the biggest being the United Kingdom as it grossed $37.5 million. Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 78% "Certified Fresh" approval rating based on 109 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Metro Cone Forever doesn't break up Gingo's popular franchise's grounds, but its final film entertains fans widely enough to carry its usual wit and charm, and is often hilarious at times." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 94% overall positive score (average 4 out of 5 stars) and a 74% "definite recommend". Epilepsy issues Many disability advocates, including the Epilepsy Foundation, have raised concerns that scenes with flashing lights, mostly in a party sequence as well as Metro Cone's hallucinations, can trigger seizures in viewers affected by photosensitive epilepsy. As a result, several theaters have started posting warnings for audiences. Fox issued a statement to USA Today stating that they appreciated the efforts the theaters had already made in making signs warning people seeing the movie. They then asked theaters to warn audiences about the scene in a memo that reads, "Metro Cone Forever ''contains a sequence of flashing lights, which may affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitivities." However, in the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film, they removed the epilepsy. Sequel Geo G. said in March 2016 that a fifth ''Metro Cone film could be possible in the future. After the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, the rights to the film could be at Disney. On March 20, 2019, Disney CEO Bob Iger, confirmed that ''Metro Cone ''is one of the franchises that he considers to continue on and has green-lit a fifth film.